This is the 2012 Ford Focus Electric, a variant of Ford’s already stellar Ford Focus. It’s got all the same bells and whistles as the normal Focus sans one very important detail; a gasoline powered engine. The Focus Electric is Ford’s answer to the Nissan Leaf as it’s a full-on electric car. The Focus and Leaf are about the same size and have a similar range, but the Focus has the ability to recharge in about half the time of the 2012 Nissan Leaf. I’ve been playing around with this car for about a week, and I can tell you that at this writing, I actually like it quite a bit.

The Focus in any trim level has always been a fun-loving little car. It’s well styled, fun to drive and from day one has possessed decent fuel economy. This new version uses no fuel at all, but when I first got it I wondered if everything I loved about the original Focus would be ditched in favor of a gigantic battery pack.

Obviously with any electric car the first question is range, or more importantly, how many miles will it get on a single charge. Ford advertises about a 72 mile range at full charge, and I’d like to report that’s fairly accurate. My test loop runs about 60 miles and incorporates everything from highway driving and back country canyon roads, to a nice stint through the city of San Francisco. Now here is the thing. I drove this car like I would any other automobile which meant 75-80 mph on the interstate and normal speeds around town. I ran the heat, navigation and stereo to see if that affected my initial charge level and thankfully, it really didn’t.

The car relies on regenerative braking, or the means by which electricity is put back into the batteries when the brakes are applied. Now, if you’re rolling on the interstate right from the get go, well then your battery is going to be depleted quicker than it would be it if you were rolling around town due to you not using the brakes. However in daily driving conditions most of us partake in combined driving, which is really what the Focus EV is best at.

Ford claims you can recharge the Focus in about 4-hours when using their 240-volt home system. However if you decided to use a standard 120V outlet you’re looking at up to a whopping 20-hours, which is just ridiculous in my opinion.

From a driving standpoint the Focus EV drives better than your standard econo-box because of its high weight (3,691 lbs.) and low battery placement. Having a low center of gravity means the car feels surefooted going through the turns and on the highway. However more weight equals less range, so there-in lies the rub of all electric vehicles as batteries are VERY heavy.

Acceleration is adequate and you’ll hit 60 mph in around 9.5 seconds or about the same as a Chevy Volt. Put the accelerator down and it’s not so much acceleration you feel in as much as a sense of whirring thrust. Power is rated at 143-horsepower, 184 pound-feet of torque from the 107kW electric motor and that feels about right. The Focus Electric has a one speed transmission so the power just builds and builds until you hit a top speed of around 85 mph. Torque is also instantaneous which means passing other cars is fun at slower speeds.

Inside the Focus you’ll find a nice cabin with some great standard features like heated seats, navigation, satellite radio, dual climate control and back-up camera. In fact the only true option on the Focus EV seems to be leather seats. Fit and finish is nice and the interior of the Focus is a pleasant place to be.

As with most electric vehicles, the dash is filled with electronic readouts that try and coach us in regards to getting the most out of your batteries. Put too much pressure on the go-pedal and watch the Eco-gauge yell at you. Push down only slightly and you’ll be rewarded with a happy dash panel. Regardless though there are still two issues (even though I like this car) with the Focus EV. First is the price. We’re talking $39,200 before a $7,800 rebate, which some people won’t qualify for. Then there is the 72 mile range. Here in California people live in their cars. That means traffic jams, interstates and long commutes. Plus if your place of business doesn’t offer a convenient recharge station, you’re basically S.O.L. if your batteries go flat.

What that all means is that this is a city car or one for those individuals who do the same under 70 mile drive daily. You can’t take it on road trips or even trips farther than 35 miles at a clip as you may not make it back. This is a GOOD car, it really is, but until it gets an honest 150-200 mile range at minimum per charge, you may want to stick with the regular, and still fantastic gas powered Focus.

It can seat up to 7 people (if you count the rear jump seats), has a range of 300 miles and is one of the most stylish new sedans on the market. It’s the new 2012 Tesla Model S and before we go any further I’d like to remind everyone that this baby is 100% electric. Jay Leno recently had a chance to experience the new Model S and in my opinion came away more than impressed.

Source: JayLenosGarage.com

He was the first man to brake the 10-minute mark at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb and is widely known as one of the worlds best drivers. This is Nobuhiro ‘Monster’ Tajima and when most people think about electric cars, this is not the driver that comes to mind. Tesla however sees things differently though, which is why they’ve stuffed Monster Tajima into their newest EV, the Tesla Model S. Did he like it? Click through to find out.

Source: Youtube.com

Redshift is what happens when stuff moves away from you really, really quickly. And that’s what electric motorcycle startup BRD hopes their new RedShift MX bike will do on the trails—at least until its batteries run out. 

Motocross. Screaming two-stroke monsters spitting thick blue smoke, dust and vaporized rubber. Not anymore. San Francisco-based electric motorcycle startup BRD has built a pair of motocross bikes that are as quiet and soothing as fluttering butterfly wings. The RedShift MX and RedShift SM are 250-cc equivalent electric bikes that are built to tear up dirt and get downright grimy without burning precious dino juice.

Both bikes have 40 horsepower and weight around 250 pounds, putting them on par with 250cc bikes like the KTM 250 SX-F. But torque—there are gobs of the stuff right off the line for burnout dust cloud generation or epic wheelies.

The bike is built like a modern motocrosser with a stiff monocoque chassis and cutting-edge long-travel suspension. The motor and battery are stressed and placed for optimal weight distribution.

What about range? The bike is good for 50 miles—if you don’t ride it like a maniac. The guys at BRD, however, want you to ride like a maniac. CEO Marc Fenigstein told Wired. “We expect people to ride the snot out of these in a way that hasn’t been possible on previous electrics. That’s going to affect the range and we want to be careful about getting the specification right.”

If you ride it properly, expect about 25 miles to a single charge.

Other details like release date and price remain nebulous, however Wired says the bike will retail for around $15,000. That’s a lot of scratch for a little bike, but its the price you pay for going green.

Source: Wired

Engineers are taught to constantly think outside the box. They’ve been programmed to question that whatever exists today, can be made better tomorrow as long as you align the right pieces of the puzzle. Take the engineering students from the University of Adelaide in Australia for example. You see they’ve just invented an electric vehicle that they’ve name the Diwheel and according to them it’s half motorbike, half unicycle and could, if they play their cards right, be a glimpse into what we’ll be seeing on tomorrow’s roads. The Diwheel is made up of two mammoth outer wheels that enclose a center mounted cockpit for the driver. It also utilizes active rotation damping so as to keep the cockpit centered when the vehicle comes to a stop. Granted this contraption is a bit unconventional, but hey, so are the engineers who designed it. Click through for the video.

The Fisker Karma. Image: Fisker

In the we-saw-this-coming-months-ago department, deliveries of the Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid have been delayed for another month. Motor Authority says that initial deliveries of demonstration vehicles and customer cars will begin in July, but didn’t give any indication of quantities. Their source is Roger Ormisher, Fisker’s director of global communications, so even the July timeline may prove to be a bit optimistic.

The Karma has some impressive stats on paper, but missed deadlines and increasing prices have plagued the car from the start. According to Fisker, the Karma will run from zero to sixty in under six seconds and deliver a battery-only range of up to 50 miles. Beyond that, a range-extending generator powered by a 2.0-liter gasoline engine provides current for the car’s electric motors in a layout similar to the Chevy Volt. Unlike the Volt, the Karma has a top speed of 125 miles per hour and a body shape that’s best described as stunning. Also stunning is the Karma’s price tag, which has gravitated upwards from last year’s projection of $88,000 to a current list price of $95,900. Call me a cynic, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see further delays before we see dealer demo units on these shores.

Source: Motor Authority

They’re silent, have gobs of torque and thanks to a low center of gravity, handle pretty damn good. These are the electric race cars of the Grand Prix Electrique, a race that was held at the Pau street circuit in France last weekend. The race was off to a great start until six of the eleven cars racing were damaged early on in a collision. The rest of the field finished the race with an average speed of 62 mph and proved to the world that electric cars can indeed race, even if its only for 13 miles.

Source: Autoholics.com

Assembled Volt battery packs. Image: Alan Holmes

As you get older, you begin to realize that some things just aren’t possible, no matter how badly you want them. Part of becoming an adult is drawing that line in the sand between fantasy and reality, and accepting that Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and honest politicians simply don’t exist. Break from that reality often enough and you’ll wind up heavily medicated, living in a padded cell without a view, holding in-depth conversations with the voices in your head. The United States Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, appears to be going down the path to three-hots-and-a-cot himself, based on a a recent story in the Los Angeles Times.

Chu, it seems, believes that an EV with a 350 mile range, at a price point of $25,000, is possible in the next six years. His belief is based on the research funded by the DOE, which seeks to reduce battery cost by 50% over the next four years while doubling or tripling their energy density in six years. Six years isn’t much time to make a quantum leap in science that hasn’t occurred, despite billions of dollars spent in research and development, over the past 100 years. It’s like the old “Far Side” cartoon, where the scientist is feverishly working on a massively complex equation on a chalkboard. Stumped, he writes in “And then a miracle occurs” to solve the problem.

That’s funny when Gary Larson draws it, but it’s frightening when the head of a federal agency makes public comments based on the same scenario. I’m not anti-EV, but I am realistic about where we are in their development today. I’m not a research scientist, nor do I play one on TV, but I see the evolution of the EV as an evolutionary process, not a revolutionary one. In six years, I’d expect to see EVs with a legitimate, 150 mile “worst case” range at a price point of $30k or so, which will make them a viable solution for more drivers than the EVs available today. Serial hybrids, like the Chevy Volt or the Fisker Karma, are likely to be the best interim solution until battery technology improves in both price and energy density. I seriously doubt that anyone can point to a timeline on that, because it requires several break-throughs in materials science.

You can feel free to ask Santa Claus for a quantum leap in battery technology over the next few years, but I’m pretty sure I know what the result will be.

Source: The Los Angeles Times

Image: Jaguar Land Rover South Africa, via Inside Line

Your opinion may differ, but I’m calling a battery powered safari vehicle a really, really bad idea. Sure, you can get closer to wildlife without the fumes or exhaust note of a turbo-diesel warning them of your presence, but is that really a good idea in an open vehicle with limited range? Do you really want to surprise a sleeping lion, only to find out that 12 miles of reserve range only equals 2 miles with the accelerator pinned to the floorboard? Getting eaten by a wild animal always struck me as a stupid way to die, and this particular EV conversion might as well come with nozzles that spray a basting sauce on tourists.

That said, it would probably make a great hunting platform, assuming you were heavily armed (although I’d still want steel mesh screening up the sides). This particular Defender was built by Jaguar Land Rover South Africa for a private game park, but the truck serves double duty as a concept vehicle. With help from suppliers Barker Performance Products and battery manufacturer Axeon, the Electric Defender Game Viewer Concept comes with a 58kW electric motor and enough lithium ion batteries to give it a 50 mile range at an average speed of 40 miles per hour. There’s even a reserve system built in for an additional range of 12 miles, but I certainly wouldn’t want to rely on it to avoid being a lion’s dinner.

There’s no word on top speed, but consider this: an African lion can reach a top speed of 36 miles per hour, but a cheetah can top 70 miles per hour for short bursts. Even a leopard can hit 50 miles per hour, but more importantly it can leap distances of some twenty five feet. I’ll pass on using an EV for an African safari, but feel free to let me know if you’re adventurous enough to try it.

Source: Inside Line

The 2012 Mitsubishi i. Image: Mitsubishi

Want to buy your own Mitsubishi i, their funky cartoonish EV set to hit the market in the U.S by year end? Mitsubishi has released pricing and order details for battery powered urban commuter. The base model, called the Mitsubishi i ES, starts at $27,990 before you factor in the federal tax credit. Even the base model gives you speed-sensitive steering, LED tail lights, a heated driver’s seat, air conditioning with a micron particle filter, remote keyless entry and a 4 speaker, 100w audio system. Base models come with a 120V, 8 amp charging cable, which allows for overnight charging.

Next up is the Mitsubishi i SE, priced at $29,990 before the tax credit. The SE includes all of the ES’ standard features, but also gives you a 360w, 8 speaker audio system, an upgraded interior, 15 inch alloy wheels and fog lamps. Topping the range is the Mitsubishi 1 SE, priced at $32,780, which includes a DC quick-charge port compatible with Level 3 chargers, a nav system, a rearview camera, FUSE hands-free infotainment system and steering wheel mounted audio controls.

If you want to get in line for your own Mitsubishi i, the company has established a four-step process:

1. Visit i.mitsubishicars.com to create an account and build your car.

2. Via PayPal, place a refundable deposit of $299 for the Mitsubishi i and $99 for the required home electrical inspection.

3. Schedule the home electrical inspection to determine what, if any, upgrades are required to your home’s electrical service.

4. Await word from Mitsubishi, confirming your selection, final selling price and delivery date.

Mitsubishi’s i has been on sale in the Japanese market since July 2009, and in the UK since January of 2011. Mitsubishi claims a U.S. market battery range of 75 miles on a full charge, with a recharge time of 14 hours on a 110v supply or 7 hours from a 220v supply.

Source: Autoevolution